I think we all know if Draymond never got hurt and missed damn near half the season, he would be the pretty clear DPOY, at least in my eyes, but since that’s not the case, Robert Williams is the next best option, and here’s why:

He currently sits at number 1 in the league in defensive rating, number 3 in defensive win shares, number 4 in defensive box plus minus as well as number 3 in blocks per game, not to mention he’s doing this for the number 1 defensive team in the league (Boston officially now has the best defensive rating in the NBA). 

Even beyond the advanced analytics, among the 150 players who allow at least 5 defensive field goals made per game (amount of shots a player scores on him when he’s directly defending), Williams is number 1 in defensive field goal percentage at just a tick above 40%. Also according to Statmuse, players are shooting 6.4% worse than their normal FG% when defended by Williams, which is the biggest negative difference by any defender with at least 500 shots defended this season. 

https://twitter.com/statmuse/status/1501244160963067907? 

I know there’s also been some love thrown around for Marcus Smart, and Timelord himself actually anointed Smart the DPOY in a previous comment. Smart should definitely make All Defense this season, no question about that, but part of the reason that he can be so aggressive out there on the perimeter is because he knows he’s got a security blanket behind him at the rim. 

Rob has been the best rim protector on the best defensive team this season and he deserves to be named DPOY for his efforts. Currently I think Gobert and Giannis have the best odds for the award, but both Utah and Milwaukee have regressed on defense since last season, while Timelord is breaking out as a defensive nightmare. I’m honestly not expecting him to be named the DPOY mostly because of name recognition, but to me he’s easily the most deserving out there. Bam is another who deserves mentioning, although he missed a large chunk of the season along with Draymond, and Jaren Jackson Jr & Mikal Bridges are other names to mention here too.

Do y’all agree? Is Timelord the DPOY this season, and if not him, who y’all got?